Get hooked on rock climbing

By Stephen Hlawaty
Outdoors Columnist

You can apply the spirit of man or woman versus nature to any number of outdoor pursuits. But perhaps this spirit is most easily evoked when you, equipped with little more than a rope, a pair of tight-fitting shoes and a variety of carabiners and cams, find yourself face-to-face with a wall of towering rock.

Standing before the monolith, you wonder at the discoveries you've made while climbing, discoveries not so much of the world around you but of the world within you. All traditional adages to the eternal question - "Why do you climb?" - apply: "Because it's there." "To get to the top." "To see what I'm made of."

Fueled by such spirit, I frequent a little known climbing destination just west of Estes Park. Aside from traditional climbing routes, the area also provides a great amount of bouldering opportunities.

Bouldering offers rock climbers a chance to hone their skills and doesn't demand the same amount of gear that rock climbing does. All you need to boulder are a decent pair of climbing shoes, chalk and a crash pad. Climbing shoes are preferred because they are specifically designed for the task. The magnesium carbonate chalk helps to keep hands dry - sweaty, wet hands reduce friction and grip. And the aptly named "crash pad" is exactly that.

As curious as this gear may seem, it is a far less curious than those who actually climb the rock. For most, the spirit of climbing has a unique and very personal effect. The climbers of Colorado State University buildings recently made this clear to me. When I asked about their extracurricular activities, I was told that they also climb some of the downtown Fort Collins buildings. They call it "buildering." In truth, I too have had my brush with climbing's less-than-mainstream practices.

Once, while outside of Estes Park, I gave "freestyle climbing" a shot. Climbing freestyle simply means that you climb free of ropes. I stood before a 40-foot wall and wondered what I was made of. I found out 30 feet from the ground exactly what - flesh and bones - when I discovered that the wall offered me no more substantial foot and handholds. While backtracking down the wall, a feat twice as difficult and long as ascending, I started getting "sewing machine" legs, a condition in which your legs shake uncontrollably due to having all of your weight on the balls of your feet with your heels lifted. I know now that simply lowering your heels usually alleviates this common condition of poor technique. When I reached the bottom, I kissed the ground.

I learned from that experience and respect those who take their rock climbing seriously enough to make safety their primary concern. Rock climbing demands calm and precision. Much like chess players, rock climbers who exhibit patience, strategy and resolve usually succeed at overcoming whatever walls they're facing.

But such personal attributes only go so far. Equipment and technique deliver rock climbers to their destinations. Aside from rope, shoes, carabiners and cams, rock climbers need to equip themselves with a harness, helmet, webbing, belay devices (which hold the rope to stop a falling climber) and protection (objects placed securely in rock, and later removed, that anchor sections of climbing rope to the rock). Such equipment goes a long way to establishing good technique.

A great way to start climbing is by top-roping. In top-roping, the middle of the rope is anchored at the top of the climb, while one end is attached to the climber and the other is controlled by the belayer, the one on the ground who controls the slack and tension of the rope. Such technique makes most slips off the rock harmless.

Lead climbing is a more advanced technique that involves a team climbing multiple pitches, or sections of the climb shorter than the length of the rope. The leader climbs each pitch by placing protection into the rock and attaching the rope to them with carabiners. Belayed by the leader, the followers climb each pitch and remove the protection as they go.

Both the Poudre Canyon and Horsetooth Reservoir offer a great variety of bouldering and rock climbing opportunities. For more information, contact The Mountain Shop in Fort Collins at 493-5720.